It has been reported over the last two days that the federal government are planning to divert $375m of foreign aid to pay for the overrun in costs associated with the processing of refugees this financial year. The aim, clearly, is to ensure their short-term focus on a budget surplus is achievable.
The effects are dramatic. It will effectively make Australia the third largest recipient of its own aid. It will divert funds from countries and programs that are alleivating poverty, toward a program within Australia that we, as a country, have always funded separately.
Please view, for more details:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/labor-mp-slams-foreign-aid-cut-20121217-2bjd1.html
http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/blog/n/overseas-aid-and-refugees-in-australia-121219
Please also consider writing to your Labor MP to ask that the government do not proceed. In South Australia, our Labor senators are:
Hon Sen Penny Wong
Hon Sen Don Farrell
Sen Alex Gallacher
Sen Anne McEwan
We also have two Greens senators and an independant from South Australia:
Sen Sarah Hanson-Young
Sen Penny Wright
Sen Nick Xenophon
In the Marion area we are represented by Liberal members of the house of representatives, however our neighbours who may also be worth contacting is:
Hon Kate Ellis, Member for Adelaide
Hon Steve Georganis, Member for Hindmarsh (Glenelg and West Torrens area)
Ms Amanda Rishworth, Member for Kingston (Noarlunga area)
I have written to Sen Farrell, already and I'm trying to spread the word. Please consider your views on this and think about contacting the government to voice your concerns.
Wednesday 19 December 2012
Christmas Cheer
It's that time of year again, when our church has the opportunity to support many in the community that are "doing it tough". We are grateful for the generosity of the community that make it possible for us to support hundreds of families each year. Today, alone, over 300 families from around Adelaide's south are going to receive toys that have been channelled from the KMart wishing tree through our Community Support Services to those who need some help.
We are also grateful for the support of Bunnings and Westpac that each year send us teams of staff to volunteer to help us with the distribution. On top of that, of course, is our incredible staff and volunteer team who are working away as I type to make it all happen. Their dedication is second to none.
We pray that there will be 'cheer' spread as a result of this effort. We also pray that the love and community that are generated will transform someone's Christmas and will point to the Christ child that started the whole thing.
We are also grateful for the support of Bunnings and Westpac that each year send us teams of staff to volunteer to help us with the distribution. On top of that, of course, is our incredible staff and volunteer team who are working away as I type to make it all happen. Their dedication is second to none.
We pray that there will be 'cheer' spread as a result of this effort. We also pray that the love and community that are generated will transform someone's Christmas and will point to the Christ child that started the whole thing.
Monday 17 December 2012
A Christmas Gift to the Community
This year we have again given a Christmas Gift to the community in the form of our family fun event last Saturday. A big thank you to Deb Strapp and Simon Fullbrook for their organisation of such a great day.
Hundreds of people were at our Seacombe Gardens centre to enjoy carols, bbq, devonshire teas, crafts, jumping castles, family games, competitions and plenty more. It was great to see the centre packed out. It was great to see the number of volunteers that came on board for the day from throughout our church community.
The whole point was to give to our community a sense of celebration, fun and a pointer to Christmas. We will keep these gifts up in future years (perhaps not every year) and keep finding new ways of letting our community know that God came to be one of us at Christmas, and that the church is here as Christ's body with the world now.
Hundreds of people were at our Seacombe Gardens centre to enjoy carols, bbq, devonshire teas, crafts, jumping castles, family games, competitions and plenty more. It was great to see the centre packed out. It was great to see the number of volunteers that came on board for the day from throughout our church community.
The whole point was to give to our community a sense of celebration, fun and a pointer to Christmas. We will keep these gifts up in future years (perhaps not every year) and keep finding new ways of letting our community know that God came to be one of us at Christmas, and that the church is here as Christ's body with the world now.
Monday 10 December 2012
Responses to ministry
It's not often that you receive written thanks for the ministries that are undertaken.
As people head into Christmas, this sometimes changes.
We were blessed this week to receive a note from a mother, via our Facebook page, thanking our Corps for the way that we have helped her, and her family this year. While we don't seek recognition, it is encouraging to know that the work of our staff and volunteers is making a big difference in our community. The genuine way in which they shine God's light in Adelaide's south is helping people to know God and to experience his love.
As people head into Christmas, this sometimes changes.
We were blessed this week to receive a note from a mother, via our Facebook page, thanking our Corps for the way that we have helped her, and her family this year. While we don't seek recognition, it is encouraging to know that the work of our staff and volunteers is making a big difference in our community. The genuine way in which they shine God's light in Adelaide's south is helping people to know God and to experience his love.
Friday 7 December 2012
Christmas Shopping
Today I went shopping. Just briefly. I had opportunity to witness two comic scenes.
Both of these scenes involved stressed retail staff antagonising each other. Both were pretty similar. On the first occasion, a shopkeeper had lost her windex - earth shattering stuff, indeed. She panicked and started annoying another staff member to help her find it. He was taken up looking after a customer, which he rightly persisted with.
The second incident was in the car park near the shop. The stressed worker couldn't get into her office, and was hassling the car park attendant, to whom I was paying my parking fees. Again, I was grateful that he put the customer first.
I smiled as I wondered about these two workers who were already stressed by the season. Or perhaps they are people that are persistently stressed - catastrophisers, if you will. Either way, I'm not sure that's how we should be - and certainly it's not what the Christmas season should be like.
Jesus came to give life, and life in its fullness. Stress, apart from the type that heightens our capacity and efficiency, is not life giving. It is draining and causes friction in our relationships. I need to, and I hope others will, take stock over the next few weeks and ensure that we are embracing the life that is on offer to us, rather than the stress that the season could, if unchecked, bring us.
Both of these scenes involved stressed retail staff antagonising each other. Both were pretty similar. On the first occasion, a shopkeeper had lost her windex - earth shattering stuff, indeed. She panicked and started annoying another staff member to help her find it. He was taken up looking after a customer, which he rightly persisted with.
The second incident was in the car park near the shop. The stressed worker couldn't get into her office, and was hassling the car park attendant, to whom I was paying my parking fees. Again, I was grateful that he put the customer first.
I smiled as I wondered about these two workers who were already stressed by the season. Or perhaps they are people that are persistently stressed - catastrophisers, if you will. Either way, I'm not sure that's how we should be - and certainly it's not what the Christmas season should be like.
Jesus came to give life, and life in its fullness. Stress, apart from the type that heightens our capacity and efficiency, is not life giving. It is draining and causes friction in our relationships. I need to, and I hope others will, take stock over the next few weeks and ensure that we are embracing the life that is on offer to us, rather than the stress that the season could, if unchecked, bring us.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Journey
Well the Nauru journey is over, and I am now settling back in to home.
As I think about journeys, and travel in general, I am thinking of the Christmas story. What sort of journey would Mary and Joseph experienced as they headed from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Trying to take this trip on dodgy roads, while heavily pregnant, is unimaginable. It was not by choice - the government had determined that this was the place they would be processed, much in the same way that asylum seekers have no choice in where our government decides they should be processed.
It was not the end of the travel experience for Mary of Joseph either. They were forced to flee their homeland as refugees and seek asylum in Egypt to avoid the infanticide of Herod. For at least two years they were unable to rely on the protection of their homeland - in fact it was government sponsored terror that kept them away.
Isn't it amazing how often the stories of Christ interact with our own. He has been there/ done that (whatever 'that' is). He has seen the best and worst of humanity as one of us.
As we each journey toward Christmas 2012, I pray that we will be able to identify each of the areas in which the Christmas story interacts with our own.
As I think about journeys, and travel in general, I am thinking of the Christmas story. What sort of journey would Mary and Joseph experienced as they headed from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Trying to take this trip on dodgy roads, while heavily pregnant, is unimaginable. It was not by choice - the government had determined that this was the place they would be processed, much in the same way that asylum seekers have no choice in where our government decides they should be processed.
It was not the end of the travel experience for Mary of Joseph either. They were forced to flee their homeland as refugees and seek asylum in Egypt to avoid the infanticide of Herod. For at least two years they were unable to rely on the protection of their homeland - in fact it was government sponsored terror that kept them away.
Isn't it amazing how often the stories of Christ interact with our own. He has been there/ done that (whatever 'that' is). He has seen the best and worst of humanity as one of us.
As we each journey toward Christmas 2012, I pray that we will be able to identify each of the areas in which the Christmas story interacts with our own.
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